The Truth Be Out
by ForeverSam
Summary: Alice never knew her past, and she was okay with that. But along with James comes the new-found knowledge of who she was before. How will she handle it? --Oneshot, Alice/Jasper--


**Title: **The Truth Be Out

**Rating: **K+

**Summary: **Alice never knew her past, and she was okay with that. But along with James comes the new-found knowledge of who she was before. How will she handle it?

**Author's Note: **I'm just posting this for the hell of it, I don't expect that many reviews...the story isn't all that great, all though it was fun to write. Anyways...read, please?

* * *

**The Truth Be Out**

_By:_

_ForeverSam_

* * *

_**Alice's POV**_

"Very nice Alice." Jasper said appreciatively as he stared up at the broken window of the hotel. "I think you might have overdone it though. It looks like a _boulder _went through it, not Bella's body."

I giggled. "She'll be able to sue now."

"And if she were conscious, I'm sure that thought would please her greatly."

"Hey, she got messed up over this whole deal, why shouldn't she get a little compensation over it?"

"If that were the case she'd want to sue _us_."

"Hmn…good point. Maybe we should just forget this conversation ever happened."

"Finally you make sense." Jasper shook his head, smiling, as he pulled me into a hug. "You're such a monster sometimes."

"Yeah, but you know you love me."

"I must. Come on, let's get back to the others." He took my hand and we started walking back towards the entrance of the car, where our "family" was waiting. We were preparing to go home. Edward would be staying with Bella ― after, of course, getting "permission" from Carlisle to stay.

We'd set the whole thing up perfectly. After we'd fixed Bella up at the dance studio, we'd brought her back here (well, Edward, Carlisle, and I had; Jasper, Esme, Emmett, and Rose had stayed to burn down the dance studio, along with James' remains). I'd been more than happy to help Edward with his plan, and had gleefully broken the window while Edward carefully set Bella up so she would be directly under it, looking like she had fallen. Like he said, it was possible. While Carlisle had pretended to patch up the injuries he'd already taken care of, Edward had called an ambulance. When the ambulance had come, Edward had gone in with Bella. The rest of our family showed up just as the ambulance was leaving. Jasper and I had stayed behind to admire my handy work.

"Well, that was fun." Emmett said as Jasper and I climbed into the car. "Let's do it again sometime."

I rolled my eyes. "Rosalie, you're closer, hit him for me."

Rosalie folded her arms and turn away, glaring out the window. "Oh grow up Rose."

By chance I looked up front and saw a small camera in Esme's lap.

"Oh, is that James' camera?" Esme winced. I ignored her. "Lemme see."

Esme held the camera away from me. "We already watched it ― trust me, you don't want to. It's not a good watch."

I reached for the camera anyway. "Bella said something…James knew me. Lemme have it."

Rose and Emmett exchanged glances. Carlisle started the car, and we took off. He kept his eyes on the road.

"Come on." I said impatiently, reaching for I still. "Just give it to me, I wanna see."

We fought for a couple of minutes, and finally I sat back. Esme, thinking I'd given up, finally relaxed. And, in a movement too fast for the human eye, I grabbed the camera. Esme missed me by half an inch.

"Alice, don't―"

"I want to." I said simply. I was already opening the camera screen. I hit 'play.'

At first I didn't see what the big deal was. I mean, overlooking the fact that James was a sick, twisted, sadistic psycho, nothing seemed wrong. Then he started talking about the one prey that had escaped him.

_"A hundred years earlier and she would have been burned at the stake for her visions." _I stiffened upon hearing the word _visions_, and my fingers tightened around the camera. James went on to explain. A girl in an asylum, an old vampire who fell in love with the prey, changed her to keep her safe from James…

And then I heard Bella, her voice breathless, betraying her shock, her fear.

"_Alice_."

_"Yes, your little friend―"_

I never _did _get to finish watching the tape. The camera snapped in my hands, broken by the pressure of my fingers. I hadn't even meant to.

The tape was, miraculously, undamaged. Jasper, who had been listening, carefully pried the camera from my hands and slipped the tape out of the deck, which had popped open when the camera had broken. He looked at me, measuring my reaction carefully. My eyes were wide with shock, my breathing wild. If the breathing had been _necessary_, I probably would have been hyperventilating. But it was just a reflex, now. A reflex from a human life I'd never had.

Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett were all quiet, all staring straight ahead. And Esme's haunting words came back to me: _It's not a good watch._

They'd seen it already. They'd _known_. They'd known…even before _me_.

"Alice?"

Jasper's concerned voice broke that silence that had been, a minute before, interrupted only by my panicked, shaky breathing. I could tell he was trying to mess with my emotions, calm me down. But I was too far gone to be calmed by _anything_, even his mysterious powers. He finally gave up and settled for wrapping his arm around me, pulling him closer to him. I laid my head down on his shoulder, my eyes still wide. I couldn't sleep, of course, thought I desperately wished that were possible. Instead I let my mind fall into a stupor that _could _have been sleep, for all I remember from it.

_**Jasper's POV**_

"Alice? Come on, Alice, let me in…"

"Break down the door Jasper!"

That was Emmett, yelling from the kitchen. I sighed. He _would _say something like that. "Alice?" I said again, unwilling to resort to such measures just to get into the room ― even if it _was _my room too.

No answer. I shook my head. "All right, Alice, I'll leave you alone for a little while. But if you want to talk, just call me, okay?"

No answer. I sighed and went back downstairs. My family was sitting around the kitchen table, discussing what had happened in Phoenix and waiting to hear from Edward about Bella. It had been only a couple of hours since we had returned. When we had gotten back, Alice had drifted upstairs to the room we shared and closed the door, indicating she didn't want to be bothered ― our room was _always _open, unless one of us wanted privacy.

And Alice wanted it now. No, she _needed _it. She needed time to process what she had learned about herself, her past. That small bit of information that had nearly torn her apart inside. I could feel her pain, even all the way downstairs, so far away from her. It hurt, but I understood. How was one _supposed _to act when she learned she had spent most of her human life in an asylum?

_Ring-Ring_

The cell-phone sitting in the middle of the table rang. Carlisle got it first, flipping open and mumbling, "Edward?"

_"Yeah, it's me."_

We all stiffened, not wanting to miss a word of the conversation. "How's Bella?"

_"The doctor said she'd be okay. She's going to really feel it when she wakes up, but they're keeping her sedated for now. There's going to be a _lot _of pain though. She's got some injuries that I can't really explain away with 'she fell out the window,' though. What they're really mystified by is this crescent moon-shaped mark she has on her hand…"_

His voice sounded bitter now. "From where James bit her?"

_"Yeah. It looks like the ones Jasper has on his arm."_

I slipped my sleeve back to look at the offending arm, covered in moon-shaped scars. I could imagine one of them all-too-well on Bella's small, fleshy hand. And it would stand out all the more on _her _skin. A small mark of white on the hand that looked tanned compared to my porcelain color.

"So she's going to be okay, then?"

_"Yeah. She'll be out for awhile though. Doctors said they'll let her out within a few days after she wakes up ― week at the most. They said whoever worked on her before she came in did an extraordinary job with the limited supplies he must have had."_

Carlisle smiled with a hint of smugness. "We're all glad she's okay, Edward."

Rosalie snorted. "Most of us." I murmured. Edward heard, of course. He laughed.

_"Why's it so quiet over there, anyway? I figured Alice, at the very least, would be happy Bella's okay. I could tell she felt bad about Bella getting away from her and Jasper―"_

Alice's name brought us back to the current problem at hand. Carlisle sighed. "Let's just say…James' tape held a little more information then Alice ever wanted to know about herself."

Edward breathed a string of curses. _"What happened?"_

"Apparently Alice spent her life in an asylum. James knew her, he tried to get to her, but this old vampire who was working at the asylum changed her to save her from him."

There was a beat of silence. _"Of all the things we imagine Alice came from…" _Edward sighed._ "I don't think we ever thought of _that_."_

"No." Carlisle agreed, shaking his head. "She's barricaded herself in her's and Jasper's room, for the moment. She needs some alone time."

_"Will she be all right?"_

"She'll bounce back. She's Alice, she always does."

_"Good point. Oh, Bella's mother just walked in, I have to go."_

"Give her our regards."

_"I will. Good luck with Alice."_

The line went dead. I sighed. Not a peep from Alice.

* * *

"That's great Edward! We're all so glad she's awake."

Rosalie made an impatient noise in the back of her throat. "_Almost _all of us." Emmett and I said in one voice.

It had been five days since the mess with James. Alice _still _had yet to show her face. And none of us wanted to push her to talk until she was ready. An upset Alice was a violent Alice.

_"Yeah, I was happy too. She technically woke up yesterday, but they knocked her out again soon after. She's awake now though, and she said she wanted to talk to you guys, so ― oh hang on. Is Jasper right there?"_

Carlisle looked up at me. "Yes, he is."

_"She wants to talk to him. Can you put him on?"_

I took the phone from Carlisle at the same time Bella came on, saying. _"Hello?"_

"Hey Bella."

_"Jasper! Oh Jasper, I'm so sorry, I know I caused you guys so much trouble, you and Alice, I hope Edward wasn't too hard on you, I know I made things so much harder for you―"_

I heard Edward laughing the background. _"Breathe, Bella."_

I laughed as well. "It's okay Bella, really. I understand why you did it, it's okay. And Edward gave us a little grief_, _but other than that it wasn't too bad. Don't worry. Alice and I expected it anyway. It's okay."

Bella laughed a little._ "Well, I'm glad. I never wanted to cause anyone any trouble."_

"And yet you caused so much." I hoped she could tell I was smiling. Apparently she could, because she laughed again.

_"So is Alice there? I want to talk to her too."_

Edward read the hesitation in my voice perfectly. _"Bella," _I heard him say, _"Your lunch is here, you'd better eat. Let me talk to Jasper, okay?"_

_"Yeah, all right. Bye Jasper_."

"Bye Bella." I waited, then heard Edward say, in a voice no more than a mumble,

_"What's going on with her?"_

I knew he meant Alice. "Your guess is as good as mine. She _still _won't leave our room. If she were actually human I'd start to worry she was dead."

_"That's morbid."_

"You're telling me."

"Just break down the door already Jasper." Emmett insisted. "Be a man, show your woman who's in charge!"

"_Excuse me_?" Rosalie snorted. "_What _was that Emmett?"

"Nothing."

Edward and I roared with laughter. Emmett made an obscene gesture at both the phone and me, which just made me laugh harder.

_"You _should _try to talk to Alice though." _Edward said when he had calmed down. _"Leaving her alone probably isn't the best bet. I have to go, I'm getting a look from a nurse."_

"All right. Talk to you later."

_"Give my regards to the others."_

And he hung up.

* * *

"Alice? Alice _please _open up…Alice!"

I glared at the bedroom door that was mocking me by hiding the woman I loved. Mocking me because it knew I wouldn't break it, because that would upset the person behind it. Mocking me…

Screw it. I took a step backwards, hunching my shoulder―

"Break that door, Jasper, and I'll break your _neck_."

I winced. Of course, she would see me breaking down the door as soon as I decided to. "Well…can I come in?"

"If you must." She sighed heavily. I turned the doorknob carefully and stepped in.

It had been over a week since I'd see the room. The bright colors of it slammed me like a truck. Alice had decorated the entire room, of course, leaving her mark all over it. The walls were bright gold, golder than any of our eyes had ever been, covered with posters of fashion models with brightly colored clothes. The posters, I saw, were ripped down, as if someone had torn them down and ripped them apart. Covering one wall was a large vanity that was filled right past it's mirror with make-up Alice would never use, but still insisted on having. The make-up, I noticed, was spilled all over the floor, bottles of nail polish broken, powder thrown against the wall, and the vanity knocked over, the mirror shattered, glass covering the floor under it. The closet, which was normally filled to the hilt with colorful, almost _screaming _clothes, was wide open, it's contents thrown everywhere. My sharp eyes took in the disaster, and I wondered if someone had broken in. Then I remembered the night we came home.

_Crash!  
_

_The noise made us all jump. We'd all settled down in the kitchen, with the exception of Alice, who had drifted upstairs when we had come inside, closing the bedroom door behind her. She hadn't spoken since she had watched the video._

_"What the hell was that?" Emmett asked, standing halfway to go upstairs and investigate._

_"It came from Jasper's and Alice's room." Rosalie stood up with her husband. Another crash echoed downstairs, almost as loud as the first._

_Carlisle, Esme, and I stood up as well, and together we prepared to go upstairs and investigate. Then we heard it._

_"Stay out!" Alice screamed, surprising us all. Her voice sounded wild. "Stay out, just _leave me alone_!"_

_We exchanged shocked glances. Another crash reached our ears._

_"We'll let her work it out of her system." Carlisle said, sitting down. The rest of us sat as well, realizing that going upstairs and bothering Alice would be to risk our lives. So we waited for her to 'work it out of her system,' as Carlisle had put it._

_It took nearly two hours for the crashes to stop. When they finally did, everyone looked at me. "W-What?"_

_"She won't _kill _you Jasper. Go talk to her."_

_I sighed as I stood up. "Chickens."_

_"When it comes to Alice, damn straight. Go."_

_I dragged myself upstairs and knocked on the door._

_"Alice?"_

I surveyed the destruction of a room it had taken Alice nearly six months to get perfect. She had annihilated it in two hours.

"Alice…what did you _do_?"

I found her leaning against the wall in the very back of the room, her knees curled under her chin, her arms wrapped around knees, her face hidden in her arms. I knew she had heard my shocked question, but she chose to ignore it. I watched her for a minute. Over the last five days her immediate pain had faded from my body ― it hadn't gone away, but I had been desensitized ― she'd been feeling it so much, it had become background noise. Now, though, being in the same room as her, seeing the disaster she had created, having her so close to me brought it all back. Her pain, her distress, rolled over me in large waves. I almost wanted to run.

But I stayed. I couldn't leave Alice, not now that she had finally allowed me back in. She needed me. I watched her for a second, trying desperately to mess with the atmosphere of the room, even a little. But Alice's mood was too thick, too heavy, too strong to chase away with the calm I willed to wash over her.

"Stop it Jasper." Her voice was slightly muffled. "Just _stop it_."

I sighed and struggled through the debris of the room to try and reach Alice. I didn't want to step on anything that looked salvageable (not that much did. She'd even ruined the _clothes_); I was trying to save Alice the trouble of having to replace everything later, when she snapped out of this and decided to redecorate.

She didn't look like she was snapping back anytime soon though. I knelt down in front of her, reaching a hand out to stroke her hair.

"_Don't touch me_."

The hiss that escaped her lips was inhuman. I pulled away at once, then sighed and settled down on the floor, after pushing away some of the wreckage.

"Alice. Look at me. Please." She didn't. "_Alice_. Listen, I know you're upset, and I don't blame you. You've just learned something big about yourself, something terrible, and I know it's hard, but you can't let it rule your life. You have to remember that, no matter who you were before, or _what _you were, you're you now, and no one else. And you're not alone ― you have us. Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Edward, you have them, and Bella too, she wanted to talk to you, you know, when Edward called, she was concerned. You have all of them…and you have _me_. You'll always have me, Alice. I love you. And no matter who you used to be, I'll _always _love you."

I knew the others were downstairs listening. I didn't care. I wait for Alice to respond.

Finally, after a good five minutes of waiting, she lifted her head. Her eyes met mine. Her jet black eyes. I blinked in surprise.

"Alice, when was the last time you hunted?"

"How should I know?" She sounded annoyed, irritable, upset. I was surprised. She _always _knew when the last time she'd fed was.

"Come on." I stood up and held out a hand to help her. "Let's go hunting now. You need it."

She didn't argue with me. She took my hand wordlessly and I pulled her up. I held her hand as we left the room, and (hoping no one would go in while we were gone) I closed the door. The downstairs was mysteriously deserted, and I wondered if everyone had cleared out, so as to not accidentally provoke Alice in someway.

* * *

No matter how many times I've seen it, Alice always impressed me when she hunted. When we hunt, we give in to our instincts, and Alice's are some of the best I've ever seen. She can take down a grizzly in two minutes. Even big, burly Emmett needs at least five to get a grizzly.

We hunted and drank in silence. I knew it was what Alice wanted. I let the silence spread, still feeling the pain that rolled off Alice, the vibes of hostility.

Finally, full, we leaned back against a tree, staring off into the cloud-filled sky. The sun must have been setting, because the sky was a darker gray then usual.

I looked over at Alice. Her eyes were bright gold again, I saw with relief, but had no more life in them then they had when they had been jet black. I stared at her for a few minutes, wishing there was something I could do to help.

"Quit staring Jasper, it's rude."

Her voice snapped me out of my stupor. I looked away again, quickly. "You want to talk?"

"Not really."

"All right." I went back to looking at the sky.

I don't know how long we sat like that for. Night had fallen before the silence was broken by a hard, dry sob. I looked over at Alice in surprise.

She was sitting in the same position I'd found her in when I'd entered our room earlier; her body was shaking, heaving with the tears she couldn't shed. It tore me apart inside. I'd never seen Alice so upset before. Not Alice, not happy, upbeat, perky, optimistic Alice, who always knew just what to do, Alice, who always knew everything would work out okay.

This couldn't be that Alice. _My _Alice.

"Alice?"

"I never thought…" Her voice sounded choked, tortured. I'd never seen her so upset before. "Of all the things I could have been as a human…I never would have even _stopped _to guess that one of those things was…was _crazy_."

"You weren't _crazy_." I said at once, moving forward in a swift motion and wrapping my arms around her shaking body. "You saw the future. It wasn't your fault. People were just afraid of you, there was nothing you could about it. But you weren't crazy, Alice. You are _now_, of course, but that's another story―"

I'd meant it as a joke. But the sound that escaped Alice's lips was far from her usual, happy laugh.

"Oh Alice…"

I didn't know what to do. What could I say that would make everything better? What could I say that would just rip open the wound that was trying desperately to heal?

So I did what seemed right. I sat there with her, I held her, I rocked her back and forth, while I watched her try and recover. It was, without a doubt, the hardest thing I'd ever gone through. To sit there and watch the girl I love d go trough so much pain, to not have the power to make it all better. I wasn't used to being so helpless. I was used to being able to use my powers to make anyone feel better. But Alice's pain was too deep, too raw to be fixed by my parlor tricks. So I did the only thing I was capable of at the moment: I stayed by her side.

I'm not sure how long we sat there like that. The sky was beginning to tinge with light before Alice's sobs finally died away. It was as if she had crashed. One second she was shouting, screaming nothing understandable even to _my_ ears, and the next she was quiet, shaking, but quiet, her head rested on my chest. I continued to rock her carefully, wondering if she found it at all comforting. And if she didn't, would she tell me?

"Jasper?" Her voice shocked me. She sounded hoarse, like a human who needed water. I didn't answer, but reached my hand up to run it through her hair, to tell her I was listening. "I'm sorry, for this…for the last week, for everything."

"It's all right." I murmured into her ear. "It's been a long time coming. No one can be as happy as you all the time, it's not _natural_. And besides…now you know the truth. It'll never be a shock to you again."

She laughed. She was already starting to sound like the Alice I knew, the Alice I loved. "Just wish I coulda seen it coming."

"Well, you were bound to be surprised at _some _time, I suppose." I kissed the top of her head. She giggled, her head bouncing a little under my lips. And I smiled. "Ready to go home?"

Her happy, upbeat mood dropped at once. "No…" She said slowly. "Not yet. I don't…want to face them yet."

I tightened my arms around her small body. "It's all right. We'll go home when you're ready."

* * *

Three days. That was how long it took Alice to return to what she considered her 'normal' behavior, how long it took her to be okay again. I was okay with it. I was patient. I could wait.

No one came looking for us. I could only suppose it was Carlisle, smart, wise, all-knowing Carlisle who was stopping everybody. He must have realized that Alice needed the time. I was grateful to Carlisle, very grateful. And I knew Alice was too.

"Ready?" I whispered into Alice's ear. Her hand was clutching mine tightly, but her familiar smile never wavered.

"Yeah, yeah, come on. Bella's there, I wanna see her."

And I was dragged forward by the monster I loved, laughing the entire time.

"Hey everybody!" Alice bounced inside, still holding my hand, still smiling. I took a second to scan the room. Bella was there, as Alice had predicted, sitting between Esme and Edward on the couch. Emmett and Rosalie were standing in the back of the room, near the kitchen, Rosalie looking unsurprisingly bitter. Carlisle was sitting in an armchair. He had been talking until Alice had blown in. Now, like everyone else, he was just staring at her, a weary look in his eyes. And I guessed that they had all seen our room. Alice raised an eyebrow as she looked around. "What?"

"Where have you two been?!" Rosalie was the first to speak. I sighed, but Alice just continued grinning.

"Oh, you know, we needed to get away for a little while…no big deal, we didn't go anywhere―"

"You really had us worried." Esme said, standing up. She swept Alice up into a hug. "Don't do that again, understand?"

"Sorry Mom." Alice said with a giggle, rolling her eyes. Esme looked over Alice's shoulder at me.

"That goes for you too, Jasper. When you leave, you tell us."

"Yes Mom." I said, sighing. I'd known they would be worried, of course, but really, if they wanted to find us, they could have.

"So!" Alice was back to bouncing in less then a second. She pulled out of Esme's grip and went over to Bella, giving the girl a once-over. "Ooohhh, look at you, you're a mess. And you have a cast too…imagine what you'll look like going to Prom in a cast―"

"Prom?" Bella repeated in disbelief. "_Prom_, Alice?"

"Of course! Every girl has to go Prom, especially every girl with a boyfriend to show off." Alice laughed at Bella's stupidity. "Who _wouldn't _want to go?"

"Me!"

It was amazing how short of a time it took for Alice to fall back into her regular role of overly-happy and optimistic. She was already making Bella's life miserable.

_**Alice's POV**_

"Hmn…well, this is a bit of a mess."

_Mess _didn't quite cover what I had done in my slightly psychotic, incredibly destructive state. Edward gawked as he stared at what my once beautiful room had become.

"Remind me _never_ upset you, Alice."

I shrugged as I walked in, picking through the wreckage. "I'll fix it, no big deal. I'm sure _something _here is salvageable…"

"Don't count it." Rosalie said as she looked around as well. She had, of course, seen it already. But the room seemed to draw her eyes like a dead body; she couldn't look away. "You even ruined your _clothes_ for God's sake."

I swooped down and picked up the remains of my favorite sweater. Most of it had been ripped to pieces; said pieces were now scattered all over the room. I sighed.

"Oh well. This just calls for a shopping trip, doesn't it? Rosalie, you doing anything Saturday?"

"Does it matter if I am?"

"Nope." I smiled and set to work making a pile of stuff to throw away and a pile of stuff that I could possibly save. That pile was incredibly small.

"So, I was thinking of repainting ― Jasper, how opposed to you are pink?"

Jasper just shook his head. I could tell he thought I was overdoing it.

Edward and Rosalie didn't seem to notice anything. "I'm going hunting and heading back to Bella's." The former said with a sigh, turning to leave.

"I'm going to talk to Carlisle." Jasper said, eying me. "You'll be okay for a few minutes?"

"Oh go, I'll be fine." I picked up the broken vanity, leaning it against the wall. It was just Rose and me now.

"So how much longer do you plan on acting for?" I jumped and looked over my shoulder at Rosalie. She was giving me a scrutinizing look.

"I'm not―"

"Come on Alice, get real." Rose gestured around the room. "You destroyed a room in two hours that took you six months to design, locked yourself in here for five days, then disappeared for three _more _days. You can't tell me you're absolutely _fine _now."

I let the smile fade. Was I really _that _transparent?

"The room was how I dealt." I said, stooping down and grabbing an amazingly unbroken bottle of nail polish. "Bit impulsive, but I'll fix it. And it's like I said before, I just had to get out of here, think things through, get everything sorted out. No big deal."

Rose sighed and started to leave. I should have just let her leave. I don't know what I was thinking, but my mouth opened to speak.

"I was scared."

The words slipped from my mouth before I could stop them. Rosalie froze in the door. My words tumbled out in a low rush.

"I was always kind of okay with not knowing where I came from, I figured I was _better _not knowing, happier, you know? There was a reason I didn't remember, I assumed, so I let it go. It didn't bother me, it didn't matter! I gave up years ago, I didn't care if I never found out. And then, to have it thrown at me like that, to find out through a _tape_…and from James, no less, who was taunting Bella, trying to _kill _her…it didn't even matter to him, he said it so casually, it was no skin off him! An asylum, for God's sake…_that's _what I came from!"

I shouted the last part. At the same time, the bottle of nail polish I had been holding was crushed in my fist.

Before Rosalie could say anything, Jasper was in front of me, holding me in his arms. No doubt he, and the rest of my family, for that matter, had heard my rant.

"What'd you _say _to her?" I heard Emmett mutter. "They probably heard that in _Alaska_, for God's sake."

I didn't let the silence last long. "I'm okay." I whispered, pushing away from Jasper. He was reluctant to let me go. "Jasper, I'm all right." I insisted again, a little more persistently this time. He finally let go, to my great relief, and I put on the smile to face the rest of my family with.

"What's up?"

* * *

Jasper didn't leave me alone again. He watched from the sidelines as I picked apart the disaster that had at one time been our room (he'd offered to help, and I'd shot him down).

"What do you think about maybe painting stars up on the ceiling? That would be fun, right?"

"Stars and pink. Only you Alice." He rolled his eyes. I just laughed.

"I'm the only me this world's got. Better make the most of it." I shot Jasper a cocky grin.

"If there were any more of you, this world would be in a _lot _of trouble."

"Ooohhh." I swooped down on Jasper, kissing him on the cheek. "You know you love me."

"I _have _to." He shot back, laughing. He grabbed me before I could back off, wrapping me in a strangle-like hug. I laughed as I pretended to struggle to get free, and we fell on the ground together, laughing. "All better?" He asked after a few minutes. I shrugged.

"The way I see it, I have two options. I can be the ticking time-bomb that everyone's afraid to go near, or I can just deal with everything in a way that _doesn't _end up destroying the entire house, and move on. It's really no big deal, looking at it now. There's always something in our life we wish we could change. And now that I have something to run on…this can be my regret."

Jasper gave me a soft smile. "I like the second option. Makes you a lot easier to deal with."

He leaned over and kissed me on the lips. "You see, if I'd done that before, you'd have torn my head off."

"I might still if you don't do it again." I said teasingly, grabbing him and yanking him forward. And finally, in that moment with Jasper, I was able to let my mind wander away from everything that had been bothering me the last week and a half. It didn't matter anymore. In reality…it never really had.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Yup. So, like I said...not that good. But...review anyway? It would make me really happy... --Sam


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